Auctions America - Many Splendored Things

Quality trumps ostentation at Auctions America Fort Lauderdale

What makes an auction special? Is it the battery of TV cameras, the fame-starved pseudo-celebrities sprinkled throughout the crowd, or the witless nouveaux riches bidding unexceptional vehicles into the fiscal ionosphere for reasons that defy economic logic?

Call us naïve, but we'd like to think it's the quality of the cars, particularly now that there's less disposable income floating around with which to underwrite the occasional contest for, ahem, anatomical bragging rights. That outlook would seem to be shared by the people at Auctions America by RM, whose 10th Annual Collector Cars of Fort Lauderdale event took place on March 16-18 at the Broward County/Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center.

Paging through the preview catalog in the days leading up the auction revealed an eclectic but uniformly impressive slate of vehicles--including more than 60 Corvettes--with none of the scantily documented "rarities" or garish vanity projects that tend to show up at some of the other marquee auctions.

Of particular interest to us was the Tony Parella Collection, an assemblage of 26 exceptional Corvettes drawn from the first through fifth generations, including one car representing every model year from 1953 through 1969. Parella, a telecommunications executive who spent more than two decades acquiring the cars, was sanguine about his chances when we spoke with him during Thursday's preview session. The availability of reserve pricing through Auctions America--a feature not offered by some of the other big auction houses--probably didn't hurt.

"I feel like I've put reasonable reserves on the cars, so if some of them don't sell, I'm happy to take them home with me," he told us during Thursday's preview session.

Wandering the aisles, we encountered a refreshingly diverse array of Corvettes, from affordable low-mileage C3s and C4s all the way up to big-block Sting Rays with projected six-figure values. Factor in the laid-back atmosphere and general absence of contrived hoopla, and Fort Lauderdale provided a welcoming environment for a bidder of any experience level to purchase a weekend cruiser--or make a long-term investment.

"We aren't on TV like some of competitors," said Auctions America president Donnie Gould, "so we rely on the quality of the cars to set us apart. And because we don't chase consignments, the sellers who do come here tend to be by swayed by our approach."

It sounds like a winning philosophy, and the results would seem to bear that out. In all, 72 percent of the vehicles at Fort Lauderdale sold during three days of bidding, generating a little more than $16.9 million. Corvette sellers fared even better, moving 54 of 64 cars for a sell rate of 84 percent.

And Parella? Every car in his collection found a new home, including an extraordinary '53 model that brought $176,000--the most for a Corvette at the event.

The lesson here is that, regardless of geography or the state of the market, quality still sells--even if there's not a TV crew around to document the proceedings.

Sources

MORE PHOTOS

1 C2 fuelies continue to command some of the highest prices among non-big-block Corvettes. This '63 sold for $80,000, which is perfectly in line with the market.

2 Unsurprisingly, this pristine '53 from the Tony Parella Collection was the weekend's top Corvette earner, bringing $176,000.

3 Parella hauled a total of 26 Corvettes to Fort Lauderdale, all of which met their reserves. "You wouldn't believe how much work it was to get them all ready to sell," he told us during the preview session.

4 C4 ZR-1s continue to rank among the best deals in the Corvette realm, though prices have been creeping up of late. This 8,300-mile '90 sold for $20,900--around a third of its original MSRP.

5 This performance-enhanced '96 Grand Sport was another good C4 buy, at $20,000. This was the only car we spotted with a dyno sheet proudly displayed on the windshield. (It made an impressive 413 rwhp, by the way.)

6 When is an $83,600 car a good deal? When the vehicle in question is an '09 ZR1 with just over 500 miles on the clock. Think of it as an already-broken-in new car with a $30,000 discount.

7 This '02 Avelate C5 was a no-sale at $27,500, which seems plenty given the lack of engine and interior modifications. It was the only custom-bodied late-model Corvette to cross the block in Fort Lauderdale.

8 Another Parella standout, this Duntov Grand Sport replica was equipped with everything a new owner would need in order to go vintage racing. The sale price of $82,500 seems reasonable given the amount of work performed on the car.

9 Well-kept, driveable C3s were present in abundance. This 11,000-mile '79 sold for $11,500 on Friday, making it one of the best third-gen deals of the event.

10 Some assembly required: Having just undergone a frame-off restoration, this Fawn Beige '61 from the Parella Collection was still apart and in need of a few finishing touches. That was no deterrent to the buyer, who coughed up $40,150 for this DIY C1.

11 We're not sure what this unsettling tableau has to do with collector-car auctions, but we couldn't resist including the photo. While motor vehicles were the event's primary focus, car models, vintage gas pumps (visible in the background), and other automobilia crossed the block as well.

12 Pace cars were well represented, with editions on hand from every applicable generation. This 4,000-mile '07 Allstate 400 "event car" sold for $44,000 on Saturday.

13 Everyone loves a 427 Sting Ray, so it's slightly perplexing that this '67 was only bid up to a $62,500 no-sale. Perhaps the coupe body style and 390-horse "base" engine are to blame.

14 Contrast that result with the $100,100 earned by this '67 from the Parella Collection. This car's topless configuration, NCRS Top Flight status, and Tri-Power engine likely made the difference.

15 Concrete marlins gambol in the fountain outside the Broward County/Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention Center. "Lauderdale always draws a rich variety of cars," Auctions America's Gould told us just prior to the auction. He was right.

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